Deceit
by Dragynflies
Summary: Continues after 3x11 -- what did Sylar really do to Elle on the beach, and what is he thinking?
1. Chapter 1

Everyone was wrong, everyone was _lying._

Even Elle, lying under him, kissing him back as she curved her leg around his hip, let him twine his fingers with hers, looking up at him like she trusted him.

_An angel with a broken watch…and a secret agenda._

He pulled back, kissed her one last time, and then watched her face crumble as he told her exactly what was wrong. He wasn't good, he wasn't going to be good, and what's more – she wasn't either. She was everything her father had made her, and she wasn't going to change. He wouldn't change either.

The little gasp she let out as he traced his finger through the air nearly made him stop. The line appeared on her forehead, and she didn't struggle. She just stared at him with her big, blue eyes, little tears rising and pooling in the corners.

She could have said his name, could have begged him, could have sent electricity up his arm…but she didn't. She just curled her fingers around the hand that still held her and looked at him.

He shook his head, continued cutting. Fuck her, fuck her for coming into his life and ruining everything. Making him feel like she might love him, cooking for him and bringing him a pie, fuck her for bringing that boy to his ihome/i and turning him into a monster.

He'd seen her face when Bennet reminded her of what he'd done to her father. That the iGabriel/i she'd panicked for only hours ago had killed her father.

She hadn't forgiven him, not like he thought she had.

Beneath him, Elle's eyes started to flutter, little glimpses of blue behind her eyelashes, and her body jerked, an unconscious, last try for her body to save itself.

Her little hand never let go of his fingers.

She was sighing now, little breathy words he couldn't understand. He had to lean in, had to know what she was saying.

"Sorry…'m sorry…" her eyes blinked shut, her bent knee giving out as her leg straightened out, "…love."

His hand dropped almost without thought. She…she wasn't lying…no. No fucking way.

He touched her cheek, her pale skin growing wet from her blood as it dripped from her scalp. She was still breathing, just barely, her chest hardly moving as her body fought what she'd already accepted. What she'd accepted the minute she saw his hand go up, the hate in his eyes.

Oh god, he'd fucked up. She hadn't been lying, hadn't been stringing him alone. Bennet…Bennet had manipulated both of them. Had manipulated Elle since she was a little girl – he could get her to do anything. Got her to bring that boy to his apartment…but she'd fought against him. She'd _come back_ and she had forgiven him.

She'd told him as much earlier that day, lying against him, looking down at him. He'd seen it in her eyes…she was already planning. They could have had a little house, she could have decorated their living room and he could have had a room just for his books…they could have gotten a pet.

Could have had a family.

And the look in her eyes when she'd seen the red dot ghost across his face, how she'd known what it meant and pulled him away. She'd taken a bullet he was almost certain was meant for him.

Elle's hips jerked and he moved away from her. He pulled his hand away from hers…how her little fingers were still clutching at him, he didn't know.

Oh shit, he'd made such a mistake. He didn't mean…didn't think…

He'd never done this before, didn't know what to do as he clawed at his wrist, opening a vein and then staring at her. Was he supposed to make her drink it? How was he supposed to this?

He wasn't bad, he wasn't. He watched a few drops of blood drip from his wrist as the skin knit together.

Fuck.

Elle's head rolled to the side, the blood dripping down into her face, dying her blonde hair a horrible red. Her chest was barely moving now, her limbs laid out limply across the sand where he'd kissed her not twenty minutes ago.

He'd never felt this before, this absolute sense that he'd made a horrible, horrible mistake. He'd felt guilt before, knew guilt as well as he knew the back of his hand, but had never felt this gaping sense of loss before.

He clawed again at his smooth, healed wrist, then squeezed around the cut, let the blood pool in the cut across Elle's forehead. His skin knit shut, and he ripped it open again, watching his blood mix with Elle's blood.

Elle let out a gasping sign, her chest rising and then falling.

And then she didn't breathe again.

No, no, no…this wasn't how things were supposed to work. He thought he'd had her earlier, had told she was his. Had _seen_ the hope in her eyes.

He was so easily controlled, so easily manipulated, for someone who was supposed to be able to understand things, he'd let Bennet play him like a drum.

Now Elle was gone and he…fuck it, he was going to kill them all. Going to take them apart one by one. Forget Claire's healing, he'd find a way to take her out too.

He walked down the beach awhile, alone and cold and covered in blood. _Alone._ Again. He found the remnants of a beach party, a half empty case of beer, dirty cans strewn around, what had been a fire pit, circled with rocks and full with half burnt branches.

And a container of fire accelerant, like you'd put on your fire to get it burning nice and hot.

He picked up the nearly full bottle, staring at it, turning it in his hand. Probably the kids who'd been here had grilled hot dogs, made marshmallows, laughed and talked with their friends.

He was sick of everyone else having fun.

He took the accelerant and the leftover beer back to where Elle was laid out on the beach, her little body looking even smaller in his shirt, covered in her blood. Fuck it, she wasn't coming back. He'd done exactly what Bennet had wanted, had played Bennet's game perfectly.

He doused her leg first, soaking the bandage that he'd wrapped around her leg. He'd been so worried when she'd been shot…

No, no he wasn't going to think about it. He was going to take care of this, torch the body, and get the fuck out of here.

He knelt down, dumped the liquid on her stomach and soaked her shirt before he threw the can off to the side. He lit his hand up with her electricity; let the sparks cover his fingers and dance.

_You'll be a gun slinger in no time…this time, give it some attitude. Some English._

_They're all trying to make you into something.  
_

_We can't take what we want anymore…_

He flicked his hand, getting ready to throw the sparks down onto her gasoline soaked body just as her body gave a shuddering shake, and her eyes flew open.

She panted, her head whipping up to look at him, kneeling next to her with a growing ball of lightning cupped in his palm.

"Gabriel…" she breathed, her little hands scraping along the beach as she scrambled away from him, her eyes wide.

The electricity in his palm went out and he reached for her, but she flinched, tears rolling down her cheeks, "You hurt me," she said softly, wiping a shaky, sand covered hand across her bloody forehead. She glanced down at her clothes, at his dress shirt that she'd flung on earlier, so happy to be with him, in his arms. "You…you were going to…" her eyes went from him to the empty can of accelerant, back to him.

"This isn't all my blood," she murmured, realizing as she touched her forehead again, "You…you never forgave me. You never trusted me, never…"

"I'm so sorry," he said, reaching for her again. She was too tired to scramble away any further, let herself fall limply back to the sandy beach.

"Please don't," she begged, "Please…"

"You called me Gabriel," he said.

"You saved my life," she returned, "You put me in the elevator…"

"I killed you."

Elle stared at him, unblinking. She nodded, "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For whatever you think I did. I swear. I swear I don't know anything I haven't told you. I'm sorry for before, I'm sorry…"

"Elle, stop apologizing," he pushed her bloody hair back away from her face, and she shudders under his touch.

She's afraid of him.

"Let me take you someplace for the night," he finally said, and she glanced around the empty beach before nodding slowly.

He carried her across the beach until he found a road. They were on the outskirts of a town, but he could see a Motel 6 in the distance. He cradled her close to him, aware that this was the last time she was going to let him touch her (and the last time he deserved to touch her). She fell asleep against his chest, exhausted.

He broke into a room instead of paying – they're both drenched in blood and gasoline and he's pretty sure no one is going to rent them a room. He laid her on the bed and tried to clean her off with a wet towel, but didn't take her shirt off.

Finally, exhausted himself, he dropped to the bed next to her, curling her body against him and falling asleep.

In the morning when he wakes up, she's gone, and there's a note on hotel stationary laid across the pillow.

_I forgive you. When you're ready, you know how to find me. _

TBC??? Maybe?


	2. Chapter 2

He doesn't want to go anywhere near her. Doesn't want to ask his father if he knows where she is, refuses to look for her.

_He killed her._

There's nothing he can say or do or attempt that is going to make this okay. They had enough hurdles to get over already. He killed her father…she made him a killer. As least, she gave him a strong push towards that direction. She betrayed him and he took the only person she had.

But they were trying to get past that, however inept the two of them were at relationships in the first place. They were still going to _try._

Now when he closes his eyes, he sees her face, covered in blood with a gash across her forehead. Sees the look in her eyes the second she realized what he was going to do, can almost feel her hand in his, her little fingers clutching at him.

There had been no electricity this time. No fighting back, no struggle. She had just lain there, let him take his own vengeance, just like he'd let her.

Only his vengeance had killed her and it was only a stolen power that brought her back.

He didn't want to see himself anymore; he didn't know how she could _forgive him_. Still, he kept her little note folded, in his pocket, read it over and over, trying to find a hidden message.

_I forgive you. When you're ready, you know how to find me._

But he didn't, not really. He'd gone back to Pinehearst, back to his father, and she had been gone already.

He never asked Arthur if she'd told him where she was going, if she'd told him anything at all, and Arthur never offers up any information – about Elle or about anything else.

He can't take it anymore. Can't take the assignments, because whenever he attempts to bring someone in, all he can hear are Elle's little whimpers as he cut open her head. Can't go by Flint because he's got blue fire. Can't even light up his own electricity because it makes him ache inside like a damn child.

So he leaves. Arthur isn't happy about it, but Gabriel's served his purpose, and now he's just a ghost of who he was – and he's useless to Arthur now.

It should hurt more than it does, to know that unless he's killing, unless he's bringing in other people with abilities, unless he's doing whatever it is Arthur is asking him to do, he's worthless to him.

Bennet told him he couldn't be normal, but he's going to try. He rents a little apartment back in New York – on the outskirts of New York, in the bad part of town. It's what he can afford but it doesn't matter. People don't seem to threaten him anymore, and if they did, he can't even count the number of ways he could absolutely take them apart.

In the back of his mind, he thinks he would probably give them a shot at ending his life, but so far he can't even do that right.

He'd like to open a shop up again, try to go back to his life before all of this happened, but he's not sure he can be that person any more. He's got enough money put away, he can just take this time to relearn what it is to be human.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He lets the days pass without a lot of thought. Spends too much time at the old used bookstore, sitting in the back where the good books are. Buys some, starts to rebuild a library that was once precious to him. If he avoids people, he never knows if they're special or not, doesn't know if they can do something amazing with their mind. He can't covet what he doesn't know, he keeps telling himself.

But he does. Knows there are people out there who have powers he doesn't have, and it makes him ache and burn, and that's when he locks his apartment door and sits on his bed and reads her note, over and over.

Three months since he cut open her head. What could have happened in three months? Three months is long enough to move, long enough to get an apartment or a little house someplace nicer than the bad side of New York City. Three months is long enough for Elle to get a job, for him to get a job. What would Elle have liked to do?

His apartment, the one he has alone because he's so good at ruining everything, is starting to look more and more like his apartment from ibefore/i. There are books everywhere, because in books if you don't like what is happening you can close it and put it back on the shelf, and it doesn't come after you. Doesn't hunt you down and make you burn inside.

He buys a bigger bed this time around because the hope that someday things might be better takes over while he's in the store. At night he only sleeps on one side of it, and when he wakes up in the morning the other side of the bed is always cold.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It's only when his electricity starts to go haywire (fucking figures) that he decides he needs someone else's help. Water lights up his skin, but he can't even just…sit without blue crackles running across his arm, over his face.

He doesn't call first, just gets in a rental car and drives. He shorts out too many times on the drive, but he's scared to try any other mode of transportation. By the time he reaches Pinehearst, he's not even thinking clearly. All he can picture is his Elle, chained to the floor, zapping herself over and over. He'd saved her then…would his father save him now, or would he find himself locked in that same room?

And does it really matter anyway?

He doesn't hesitate as he bolt through the front doors and up to Arthur's office. All he knows is that breathing hurts and that healing isn't making the pain stop, and he can't take it.

"The prodigal son returns," Arthur intones from the back of his desk, not rising to see to Gabriel's pain. "You thought you knew better than me."

Gabriel shakes his head, "I just couldn't do it anymore," he tries before the electricity zaps across his face. "I need your help."

"Everyone always needs something," Arthur says, rising now and walking over to where his son is crouched on the floor, energy crackling across his hands. "You've lost control, just like Elle did."

Gabriel nods, feels the electricity jolt through his arm and his heart clench at Elle's name, "You can take it away," he says. "You can make it stop hurting."

"Is that what you really want, Gabriel? For me to take it all away?"

Arthur's question is deeper than only removing the pain, he realizes. He could take it all away, could take every single ache and desire…

"Do it," he says, before he really thinks it through. "Take everything, I don't want it."

If his response surprises Arthur, he doesn't show it. Instead he just raises his hand in front of Gabriel's head, and Gabriel suddenly feels nothing. No more electricity. No more hunger. He scratches his arm with his nail and watches the skin stay red where his nail scraped across.

"You might want to take a trip down to Mohinder's lab," offers Arthur, turning away and opening the door to his own office without touching it. "That will be all."

He finds Mohinder's office easily, remembers the layout of Pinehearst better than he'd like to. A man is working in the lab, his back to the glass front door, but it can't be Mohinder. Scales have crept around this man's face and neck, from where he stands Gabriel can see a pointed ear that's a shade of green he's never seen on a human before.

Then the man turns, and it's clear it is Mohinder, his deep brown eyes are the same and his cheeks and nose are not yet covered with the same scales.

It is clear immediately that Mohinder is just as shocked to see Gabriel as Gabriel is to see Mohinder. The researcher makes a quick glance around the room, and Gabriel lets his eyes follow the other man's gaze.

Elle is perched on the counter top just barely out of sight of the door, reading a magazine, and clearly not paying attention to anything going on outside of the text on the page.

Mohinder takes a step towards Gabriel, places a scaled hand on the other man's chest. "You need to leave, now, before she sees you. She's been through enough and has more than enough to deal with right now, iwithout/i having to see you on top of everything."

He wants to leave, wants to leave Elle to her apparently content life at Pinehearst, but he can't. There is no way he can turn around and walk away without see her, hearing her voice.

So he shakes his head at Mohinder, who pushes with more force against his chest. "I'm not kidding, Sylar. You need to get out of here and be gone. I will not have her upset."

Mohinder is shoving him towards the door when Gabriel's hand shoots out, knocks against the table and Elle's head shoots up from her magazine, "Mohinder, did you break something again, because I can't …" Her voice trails off when she sees who else is in the lab and she jumps down from the counter, shaking her head.

"No. No, you're not here, you can't be here," she says, frantic. She already looks seconds from tears, and Gabriel can't take the way her tears make his chest ache.

"Elle…" he tries, trying to side-step Mohinder and go to her. She's backing away from him, looking absolutely terrified.

"Why are you here now?" she whispers, regaining her composure and setting her magazine down on the counter. Still, she keeps her distance, her arms crossed in front of her stomach.

"I came because…my electricity was shorting out."

Elle nods, and he thinks she even looks a little pleased. "Hurts, doesn't it?"

"It did," he says. "Arthur took everything. All the abilities. I don't want them anymore."

Elle's eyes widen and she stares him down, but doesn't say anything.

"He told me to come down here. He must have known you were here…"

Elle's chin raises and her voice is a little defensive, "I work with Mohinder," she says, then glances at him, smiles a little, "when he lets me."

When her arms move, Gabriel sees it, and he can't believe he didn't notice it right away. Elle catches his gaze and covers her little belly with her hands, looking towards Mohinder. He moves in front of her almost without a sound.

"You're…you're pregnant." He wishes he could close this book, put it back on the shelf and find another one with the same characters but a better plot.

Elle chews on her lower lip, like she has to think about her answer, what she's going to say. Instead, he says nothing, just stares at him with those big, blue eyes.

It reminds him of another time when she only looked at him, and his stomach coils into a hard knot and he swallows hard. "Is…is it mine?"

Elle nods before Mohinder can do anything. Gabriel takes two steps towards her, and Mohinder steps up in front of Gabriel. He's more threatening now than he ever was before, the scales and the ears and the way he moves make Gabriel hold up both his hands.

"They're gone," he says, "I don't have anything anymore."

Elle touches Mohinder's arm, moves to stand next to him. She looks at Gabriel while she talks to Mohinder, and she sounds calmer and more collected than she ever has before.

"We're going to go to my room and talk," she says, moving away from Mohinder to reach for Gabriel's hand, "I'm not afraid anymore."


	3. Chapter 3

Elle doesn't talk as she leads Gabriel to a little room on an upper floor in Pinehearst, hardly even making eye contact. His eyes are glued to her little belly, covered with a professional little button down shirt.

She opens the door to her room, gestures him inside. He glances around the Spartan room – it makes his little studio look like a mansion. There's a plain bed in the corner with a little nightstand, a closet and a tall, thin dresser with her makeup and jewelry scattered on top.

The "What to expect when you're expecting" book looks out of place and foreign. This room is no place for a baby.

Elle shifts uncomfortably and sinks down onto the little bed, glancing at him. "I'd given up on you coming," she says softly.

"I just needed to work through some things on my own," he replies, sitting down on the bed next to her. She shifts away from him, cups her palms around her tummy. "Elle, I don't know what to say to you to tell you how sorry I am."

Elle glances out the window, stares at the trees outside, down below. She pulls her hands away from the curve of her stomach to twine her fingers together nervously.

"Elle, I'm doing better." He tries again, holds out his hand to her, "I gave up my powers. I want to try having a normal life, with you. With our baby…"

Elle shakes her head. "Gabriel…you have to understand that things have changed. _I've _changed. I'm not willing to compromise what I have here to try something with you that I can't rely on."

The Elle Gabriel had known five months ago wouldn't have thought twice about packing up her stuff and taking off for parts unknown with him. She'd trusted him, and now she couldn't. She was growing up finally, away from her father, away from Gabriel.

"I know I don't have your trust…"

"You don't deserve it. I forgive you, Gabriel, I do, but I can't just trust you again. Not without some proof." She leans against the headboard, tucking her legs up against her chest as best as she can, stares at him with teary eyes.

"Can I see him? When he's born?"

Elle's lower lip trembles as she fights back her tears. She holds steady for a brief moment and then flings herself into his arms, sobbing. He holds her, rubbing her back gently as she buries her face in his chest, her tears soaking through and wetting his chest.

"I waited so long for you," she murmurs, "I thought you would come for me, and you didn't, and then I found out I was pregnant. I was so happy…we were going to have a little baby, a little person that was ours…but you were nowhere to be found. You didn't come back!"

Gabriel lets his lips brush against her blonde hair, kisses her gently. "Elle, I'm so sorry. I needed to learn to be normal…to be just human. I couldn't be what you needed me to be, what I needed to be. Do you understand what I did, that night, Elle? How could I live with myself?"

Elle is quiet then, as she pulls away from his arms and wipes at her tear stained cheeks with her palms. She sniffles, taking a deep breath as she calms down. "You fixed it," she finally says quietly, "and I told you I forgave you. I meant it. But you need to show me that you've changed, because I've changed… even if I am damaged."

She says the last sentence with a challenge in her eyes, and he understands. He reaches to brush her hair back from her face, and she doesn't flinch. She leans her cheek into his palm, eyes closing as she relaxes against his palm. He can't stand it, and he reaches for her, pulling her into his arms.

She lets him, tucks her head under his chin and holds his hand in hers. "I have a job here," she tells him, "I have a real job, that I'm good at."

Gabriel presses a kiss to the top of her head. He can tell she's not finished talking, and he's not going to interrupt her.

"I work in the lab with Mohinder. We're working on a cure for him…we're getting there. He looks so much better than he did even a week ago. We're trying to fix all the things that have gone wrong." She knows that there's more to that that's going on in the clinic, knows about Claire being some sort of catalyst, but she doesn't help with that. Mohinder barely touches that research, only when Arthur really starts sniffing around…but she still can't help but feel safe here. Arthur has been nothing but kind to her, taking care of her, asking about the baby and the pregnancy. Certainly he's been nicer to her than her father ever was.

"I like my life here," she tells him honestly, "I don't miss being an agent, but I like working with Mohinder. I'm smart, Gabriel, I can do this." She sounds so amazed when she says that, like she didn't believe it before.

"I have an apartment in New York," Gabriel says, letting his hand slide around her so his thumb can rub gentle circles on her waist. "New York isn't so far. We can visit each other, take things slow. I don't want to take you away from what you love here, but I can't be here. Not anymore."

Elle pulls away from him then, just enough to look at his face. She traces the line of his jaw with the tip of her finger. He closes his eyes, lets out a little breath before he leans in, catching her lips with his in sweet, slow kiss.

"You were wrong about what I wanted," she says softly when they've pulled apart. He remembers his words to her - _A chance to reinvent ourselves, free from parents and powers…_

"What do you want?"

"Just you," she murmurs, her fingers brushing through his too-long hair, "I just wanted you."

His chest aches and he wants to wrap his arms around her and drag her back to New York with him, never let her out of his sight again. If he can do that, then he won't see her dead anymore. Won't see her lying under him, bleeding _because of him._

"Hey," he hears Elle say, feels her little fingers on his face. His breath catches and he pushes her bangs away from her face to look at her smooth forehead. Of course there's no scar, no evidence of what he did to her. Elle flinches as he touches where the cut was, but doesn't move away.

"You didn't mean to hurt me," she says, and it sounds like she believes him, "You didn't mean it."

Gabriel brushes her bangs back down, lets his fingers trail through her long blonde hair. "You shouldn't forgive me."

"Why not?" Elle challenges, "How is this different than what I did to you?" he remembers, but it doesn't feel the same. Elle, throwing lightning at him across a little cell, knowing he had Claire's power doesn't make him feel better about his own mistake, "Gabriel, we're not perfect. We are never going to be normal, with or without our powers. Why is it so hard for you to understand that I _love you?_"

"Come back with me," he begs. "Even just for a little. Come back with me."

Elle is studying him like the answers are going to be traced onto his skin, but she barely hesitates when she answers him, "Okay."

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Elle packs a little suitcase while Gabriel sits on her bed, looking through her "What to Expect When You're Expecting" book. She's got a little bookmark at week 19, and he glosses over the chapter while she picks out clothes. It's all so unreal.

_A baby._

He can tell by the way she's packing she intends on returning, and the thought makes his chest ache more than he will admit. He wasn't lying when he told her that he wouldn't take her away from what she loved, but he was still, undeservedly, hoping she'd come back with him for good.

"I need to talk to Mohinder and your father," she tells him, handing him her closed suitcase. "Can I meet you downstairs in ten minutes?"

Gabriel nods, takes the suitcase from her hand. She's off and down the hall before he has time to blink. He doesn't follow her, as much as he'd like to, and instead goes downstairs to his car, waiting for her.

She shows up, true to her word, not more than ten minutes later. Her cheeks are a little pink and she's wiping at her eyes, but she smiles at him and reaches for his hand.

The drive to New York from Pinehearst is mostly silent, and Elle falls asleep about an hour into the drive. He can't stop looking at her. Her hair is longer, and her little cheeks are rounder from the pregnancy, but she doesn't look that much different from before. Of course she wouldn't, but he can't help wish he'd been different.

He let Bennet play him, manipulate him so easily…he wouldn't do that again. Wouldn't let _anyone_ hurt Elle, not ever.

He wakes her when he returns the rental car, then calls for a cab to take them the rest of the way. He's a little ashamed of his apartment – he wishes he had a place to show her that had a room just for their child, but Elle doesn't seem to notice. She trails her fingers over the spines of the books as she looks around the little apartment.

"It looks like…before," she says, and she doesn't have to say anymore. He knows what she means, and he just nods.

"You were right," he admits, "I did change. I was just so scared…"

"I know," and even though Elle doesn't ilook/i any different, he can tell she is. The past months have been good for her, letting her balance her old life with new, taking responsibility for her life, not letting people control her. She's calmer now than before, mature. He's proud of her, but he doesn't know how to tell her.

She yawns a little, stretching from the car ride and he's up and by her side in seconds, "Come lay down," he says, "You can rest, and then we can get something to eat."

Elle lets him lead her to his bed, and lies down. He joins her, and when she curls herself into his arms, he's sure she can hear his heart pound. She's asleep in minutes, her breathing slow and even, her breath warm on his chest. He wraps his arms around her and stays awake, just so he can hold her.


	4. Chapter 4

Gabriel wakes to the sound of Elle's voice as she murmurs into a cell phone pressed against her ear.

"I'm fine," she says, "Everything's fine. The baby is fine. Mohinder, seriously," Gabriel's stomach twists – she had called Mohinder? Then Elle continues, "because I love him, and he deserves this. No. No. I'm not a child, Mohinder."

The pause stretches out and Gabriel wonders if she's hung up, "Well, did you try heating it? Yeah? Did you mix it with the – no, not that. The other one. Well, don't put anything else stupid in your body until I can take a look at it. Yes, I know I've only been working with you a few months, but I'm a quick study. Look, I'm staying here for a few days at least, but I'm not abandoning you. I have to go," she says suddenly, and Gabriel is sure he's busted, "Bye. Yes. I promise. Okay, good bye."

Elle pads barefoot over to the bed, grins at him, "You are awake. I thought I heard you." She's barefoot now, and has lost her dress shirt in favor of a little tank top that leaves a few inches of her tummy exposed before the waistband of her pants. She is completely self assured, and Gabriel wonders when she gained that self confidence – not just in her looks, but in herself.

"I just woke up." He can't resist her, and he reaches for her, letting his hand brush against the swell of her stomach, "come here," he requests, and Elle smiles and kneels on the bed, moving to straddle him. He curls his fingers with hers, and she leans down to place a gentle kiss on his lips.

"I missed you every day," she tells him, her voice serious, "It's so wonderful to see you." She clings to his hands, using him for leverage to help her sit up.

He knows it's the wrong time for him to want to have this talk, with her smiling and happy and straddling him in a rather enticing way, but he can't help it. "How can you be happy to see me? Elle, I hurt you…I kil—"

She pulls her hand away from his to lay a finger over his lips, "Stop it," she admonishes, "Stop it."

Gabriel shakes his head, moving her finger away, "Elle, if we're going to do this right, we're going to do it all the way. You need to understand who I am, and you need to…"

"Understand that Bennet is a manipulative little asshole who tricked us both?" she asks, raising a delicate eyebrow. "Are you going to listen to him anymore?"

Gabriel shakes his head 'No,' and wisely keeps his mouth shut.

"Are you going to hurt me or our baby?"

"I would never…" he means to continue, to try to find some words to explain to Elle how important she and their child are to him, and how he's going to spend the rest of his life trying to make sure that no one ever hurts her again, but Elle covers his mouth with her entire hand this time.

"Then I forgive you, I do," she says, moving her hand to smooth back his hair, "and I will trust you again, but you have to be patient with me."

He can't help but stare at her in stunned silence, wondering really what had happened to his flighty, impulsive Elle, because this girl – this woman – is everything he loved about her before, plus everything he's going to love about her in the future.

"Now," she says, grinning, "I finally have you in a bed, and I'm going to need some things from you." She slides her hand down his stomach until her hot little hand is cupping him through the fabric of his pants, and every nerve ending in Gabriel's body fires at once.

His brilliant smile turns into a smirk, and he runs his hands up her smooth legs to cup her hips, his thumbs rubbing soothing circles over her hipbones, pushing the fabric of her tank top up over her belly. She takes the hint and reaches down to pull the little shirt off all the way.

He could spend hours staring at her. Laying under her in that moment, staring at her in the haze of the morning, the sunlight coasting in through the window and lighting up her hair like a halo, he cannot remember in his life ever feeling this happy.

Completely and undeservedly happy.

Elle shifts on top of him, and he can't help but cup her breasts – larger now than he remembers – and brush his thumbs over the hard little nipples. Elle sighs happily, letting her eyes drift shut as he carefully catches each nipple between his thumb and forefinger, gently teasing her.

She lets him for a little while, finally opening her eyes to watch him, until she squirms away, already panting. She unbuttons each button on his white shirt, laughing lightly when she pushes the sides away to reveal a white undershirt. She pushes her hands underneath the hem of the shirt, letting her little nails scrape against the skin as she traces the lines of his chest.

"Off, please," she requests, her voice breathy, and Gabriel sits up just enough to let her pull the dress shirt off his arms and yank the thin fabric of his undershirt up and off.

They're moving slowly, missing the hurried frenzy of their first coupling, on the floor in the ripped apart, empty house where Bennet attacked them, and Gabriel thinks this time is perfect. Wants to remember every second of this, every curve of her body, the way she's smiling at him…just in case this is a dream, or worse…that she leaves.

He takes her hips and lifts her off of him, lays her down on the bed and crawls over her, careful to keeps his weight off of her. Kneeling between her legs, he carefully unbuttons the snaps of her pants, gently tugging down her panties with them. Elle helps, lifting her hips enough so he can slide her clothing down.

When she's finally naked, he lifts one slim ankle and places a soft kiss on the little bone. She giggles, watching him with a smile, as he kisses his way up her shin, the inside of her knee, across the plane of her thigh. She squirms when he reaches the apex of her legs, his breath hot against her, and then pouts prettily when he resumes kissing on her opposite thigh.

"Please," she pants, "Please don't tease."

He's not in the mood to ever deny her anything, ever again, so he doesn't. He bends his face to trace her slick folds with his tongue. She gasps his name, slides her knees apart and he takes the hint, pushing the pad of his tongue hard against her silky skin.

He keeps at her until she's panting his name, her fingers twisting in his hair, and then he pulls away. She whimpers at the loss, then gasps as he slides into her.

"Oh, oh," she's clutching at his shoulders, her nails digging into his skin, her head thrown back against the pillow.

He's momentarily distracted by her, watching the curve of her neck as her head arches back, and when he slows, her hazy eyes fly open, "No, no, don't stop," she says, tipping her hips up and pushing him deeper inside of her.

It doesn't take much more to push her over the edge, and as soon as her hot little muscles start fluttering around his cock, it's all he can do to groan her name, bury his face in her neck and come just as she does.

The air settles still around them as he rolls over, letting Elle nestle on his chest and tuck her head under his chin. Her skin is hot against him, sticky with sweat, and he never wants to let her go again. Gabriel shifts just enough to tug a blanket over the two of them, and Elle snuggles closer.

"I promise to never lie to you, Gabriel," she murmurs, and he kisses the top of her head.

"I know. I promise too."

"Promise me you'll stay," she begs, "Promise me you won't leave me again."

He lifts his head and touches her chin until she raises her face to look at him, "I promise, Elle."

Her eyes fill with tears and she nods, burying her face in his chest.

Xxxxxxx

He wasn't aware they'd drifted off to sleep until Elle wakes him up by poking him repeatedly in the chest.

"I'm hungry," she says, glancing from him to his little kitchenette. Her stomach rumbles, just in case her words weren't convincing enough.

Gabriel carefully moves out from under her, tucking the covers back around her as she curls up in the bed. He slides on boxers and turns back to Elle, who's cocooned herself in the blanket and is peering up at him with happy eyes.

"What do you want?" he asks, and she smiles and shrugs.

"What are you going to make me?"

He pads over to the little fridge, and looks inside, "I can do eggs or…waffles. Pancakes?"

"Waffles please," Elle requests, rubbing a gentle circle on her round belly, "We eat a lot of waffles. Your daughter likes them."

Gabriel is already pulling out the ingredients to mix the batter, "Daughter? What about a son?"

Elle shrugs, "Just a hunch. I don't want to find out. I've never had a surprise before."

His heart breaks a little when he thinks about that…that a 25 year old woman had never in her life had a happy surprise. He doesn't let himself fixate on that – he's going to start fixing things one day at a time.

Elle is quiet as he makes the waffles, and when he brings the plate to her, he realizes why. She's asleep again, her little face pressed against his pillow, one hand curled under her cheek and the other cradled around her tummy. He can't resist brushing her hair back from her face.

He already knows she's home, and doesn't know what he's going to do when she decides to go back to Pinehearst.


	5. Chapter 5

Every day that Elle spends with him means another day closer to her leaving, and sometimes he can't stand it. They're trying to do normal, couple-y stuff, and learning together what being in a relationship means.

Neither of them are very good at talking about their emotions, neither of them are very good at telling the other person what they need. Even with Elle's new job and confidence, she is still not used to people wanting to help her, and Gabriel's guilt means that he often doesn't feel like he has the right to ask for things.

Still, they're building a foundation, one day at a time.

Elle likes to sleep curled against him, her face buried in his chest and her legs twined with his, like they're one person, hearts beating together. She's less touchy in public, but lets him hold her hand when they walk to get dinner.

Gabriel likes it best when she falls asleep before him, because he likes to talk to their child when no one can hear him. Wants his baby to know that no matter what, he or she is going to be loved and taken care of. He doesn't know if he'll be a good father, but he knows he wants to try.

He's been so busy trying to spend time with Elle, trying to prove to her that he's changed, prove that he'll do anything for her that he hasn't had time to reflect on his powers…or lack thereof. One afternoon, he's cleaning up the apartment while Elle naps and he knocks a clock off the shelf. It's almost reflex to pull the pieces of the clock back together without even bending over to look at the broken parts.

It isn't until the pieces of the broken clock don't move that it really hits him, what he's done for her, and for a too long moment, he hates her for making him feel like this. It was her ability that misfired on him, made him go to Pinehearst to beg for help. What's more, it was thinking about her that made it that much easier to say yes when Arthur offered to take his powers.

Now he's yet another powerless member of the Petrelli brothers, and he wonders if Nathan will screw up enough to make it three. Between his powers and Peter's, Arthur's got a grab bag of tricks that nearly makes him invincible, and it is then that Gabriel feels like he's really made a horrible, horrible mistake.

He sinks to the floor next to the broken clock, dropping his head to his knees. He could have managed his powers, could have found Elle without giving Arthur everything that made him special. It's her fault now that he's no one.

"Hey," Elle's quiet voice breaks into his thoughts, and she sinks to the floor next to him. She touches his arm gently, "What's wrong? Are you all right?"

He doesn't want to talk to her right now, because he knows he'll say something he'll regret. Knows that it won't take more than a few properly worded sentences to send her back to Pinehearst and out of his life for good this time.

"I just need to be alone," he finally mumbles, pulling away from her insistent little hands, her too-calm voice.

"Gabriel, talk to me," she begs, and he can't take it anymore.

"You haven't used your power once since you've been here."

Elle glances down and bites at her lower lip. She shakes her head, glancing at him through a layer of blonde bangs.

"Because you feel sorry for me?" he asks angrily, "because I gave up everything so that we could have a chance?"

"I don't…you didn't," Elle stammers, blinking back hurt tears. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I gave up everything that made me special so that I could be the person you wanted me to be."

"Gabriel," Elle reaches for his hand, but he pulls away before she can touch him. "You are special. With or without your ability, no matter where you live or what you do."

"You told me that before," he snaps, "I remember. You told me I was special right before you rubbed that poor kid in my face."

Elle sighs, moving away from him. She's silent as she sits down at the foot of what's become their bed, and looks at him, heartbroken, sitting on the floor amidst pieces of a shattered clock.

"I know what our child's power is," she murmurs, and Gabriel raises his head to stare at her. Where had that come from?

Elle opens her palm, and Gabriel watches as the tiniest spark he's ever seen flickers and sizzles out before the lightning ball can grow. She does it again, with the same result.

"I haven't told anyone," she continues, "because I don't know what that power will mean for Pinehearst, for your father, or for Mohinder. It doesn't feel the same as when the Haitian does it…but it's the best I can figure right now."

So Elle doesn't have her power either.

"It'll come back when he's born," Gabriel says, and Elle shrugs.

"I don't care," she says, and he glances at her in surprise, "I don't care because I've learned that I'm still Elle, even if I don't have my ability. I'm still Elle, and I'm still _special_. Just like you."

It sounds so cheesy but he can't help but get choked up. He pushes himself off the floor and kneels in front of her, her little hands cup his face as she looks at him.

"If you're upset, you can tell me," she continues, "and if you want your abilities, we'll go get the back. But it doesn't matter to me, not even a little, because you are special, and I love you."

He swallows hard, presses his lips to her belly, "I'm sorry."

Xxxxxxxxx

She helps him cook dinner that night, and while they smile and laugh and share little kisses, Gabriel can tell Elle's mind is elsewhere. He worries that he's told her too much, and that she will leave him because of it.

They eat in bed because it's hard for Elle to sit on the floor, and Gabriel never bothered to get a kitchen table. Elle doesn't mind, and when Gabriel feeds her, she accepts the bites with a pretty blush and giggle.

After dinner they make love, slow and sweet like they're getting so good at, until Elle's fingernails leave imprints in his shoulders and her breath warms his skin as she begs him for more. She falls asleep with him still inside of her, her body pressed against his, and Gabriel dreams about their future.

They are going to have a little house, just on the outskirts of a medium sized city. Maybe in California instead of New York, but not in Washington because Elle doesn't like the rain. He'll build a swing set in the back yard with his bare hands, and they'll have two children – a boy and a girl, with Elle's pretty blonde hair and his eyes. They will stay away from his parents and expectations, and he'll ask Elle to marry him.

She sighs in her sleep, and he holds her tighter. Maybe giving up his powers was worth this.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Two days later, he watches her pack her suitcase. He is quiet because he will not beg her to stay, and that is all that will come out if he opens his mouth.

"I have a responsibility to Mohinder," Elle says, knowing what his silence means and not really wanting to go back. Not without him.

He nods.

"Gabriel, this isn't permanent. We're not that far apart. A couple of hours…"

"I won't go back to that place." He snaps, angry again.

"I'll see you on Friday," Elle says simply, and when she goes to kiss him goodbye, he turns his head. She kisses his cheek instead, and tells him she loves him. He's never said it back to her.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He feels like an asshole for all of Monday, and all of Tuesday. He can still feel the press of her lips against his cheek, and he wishes he'd kissed her goodbye properly, told her how much he loves her, even if he isn't very good at the whole relationship thing.

On Wednesday, he's packing to go see her when there's a knock on his door. She's standing there, clutching two big suitcases while tears roll down her cheeks.

"Elle…"

"I quit. I left," she says, "I'm trusting you, and I want to be with you."

He hugs her so tightly she drops the suitcases, and this time, before he kisses her, he whispers that he loves her.


	6. Chapter 6

They're learning very rapidly that for as much as they both care for each other, neither of them are very good at being in a relationship.

Elle has spent too many years taking orders, and her new found freedom means that Gabriel's protectiveness towards her makes her feel smothered. Gabriel finds himself getting impatient with her even when she's done nothing but exist in the too small apartment.

They're in the middle of a screaming match about why Elle does or does not need to get a job (she wants one, he wants her to stay home) when she opens up her palm and goes to zap him.

The spark barely ignites, but it's enough. Gabriel realizes exactly what she intended to do, and Elle knows immediately that no matter what she says, nothing will convince him that she'd forgotten he was missing his powers – including his healing – and that a zap the size of the one she meant to throw at him would have knocked him out, if not worse.

He stares at her in silence for seconds that drag into days, then grabs his jacket off the chair and storms out of the apartment without a word.

Xxxxxxxxx

He's gone for hours. Elle finishes the dishes and looks through his books, trying to find one that will hold her attention longer than fifteen seconds, which is about how long she can go without thinking of Gabriel.

Elle does not like to wait.

She makes dinner from the random things they have in the cupboards, pieces together a pretty pathetic spaghetti sauce (a jar of Prego and a can of mushrooms) and boils the noodles.

Then she eats alone, leaning against the headboard of their bed, resting the bowl on her belly. She doesn't really talk to the baby, doesn't really think of the baby as someone yet, but as she turns her hand over and watches the little sparks fizzle out, she wonders just what her child is going to be like.

She doesn't have the first idea how to raise a baby. She was sort of hoping Gabriel did - she doesn't know much about his childhood, but damn, it can't be any worse than the one she had, the one she doesn't remember anyway. It's becoming increasingly apparent, though, that he's got no idea how to do any of this better than she does.

She falls asleep sitting up in bed, still in her clothes, waiting for him. When he comes back into the apartment, the door slams and she jumps, dumping what's left of her dinner onto the floor and shattering the bowl.

"Where did you go?" she asks sleepily, rubbing her eyes. She'd like to tell him she's just glad he's home, but she's pissed that he'd left her for the whole day, because she's not the only one failing at this relationship.

"I fixed things," he says, and throws all of the books off a shelf with a flick of his wrist. "Happy now?"

"What did you do?" she asks, trying to keep her voice steady and failing miserably. He's _scaring_ her, because she's seen him look like this before, and it was right before he slit her head open and fucking _killed_ her.

"It's lucky you worked so hard with Mohinder to fix that vaccine," he says, advancing on her. Elle squeezes her hand together, silently begs the baby to let her spark, just one good one, long enough to knock him off balance so that she can go, "A little shot, a little help from Daddy…I'm good as new."

"Gabriel, don't do this," she begs, hating how helpless she feels, hating the baby for taking away the one thing that really did make her special (she'd just about convinced herself otherwise, but everything was going to hell now…) and herself, for thinking they could be normal.

"Why not? You did."

"I didn't mean to…stop it, you're scaring me." She pushes herself up from the bed, moving away from him.

In the back of his mind, a little voice is screaming at him that he's an idiot, that he needs to stop scaring her and that they need to talk like normal people. But they're _not_ normal people, and they're not very good at talking, and this whole thing is going to hell right before his eyes.

Gabriel closes his fist around the electricity, and it goes out. Elle doesn't know what to think, hates that she doesn't know what to expect from him, and realizes that trusting him again (or trying to) was a mistake.

"I'm sorry," he says, but it doesn't sound like he means it. It sounds like he much prefers his powers to anything else, and that he's done playing happy couple with a baby on the way.

Elle swallows hard, and moves around him, walking away. She takes a deep breath and finally says, "I think…I think I need to go."

"Elle…" Gabriel can practically watch his entire future crumble – he doesn't need any powers to see that.

"No," she says, holding up a hand. She's not nearly brave enough to waste time packing a suitcase, so she ends up half bolting to the door, snatching up her flats and her purse.

"Elle, please, I didn't mean…"

She stops at the door, her hand on the knob, "No, and I didn't either, and that's the problem. Neither of us know what we're doing, Gabriel, and I can't pretend like I do anymore."

She's out the door before he can think of something good to say, and he just can't go after her. He doesn't know what to tell her, anyway.

He settles for blowing up the vase of flowers that he's brought home for Elle not two days ago. It doesn't make him feel any better.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Elle navigates the semi-unfamiliar streets, clutching her purse close to her. It's dark and chilly out, and she's dressed for sitting at home in her yoga pants and the dress shirt she stole from Gabriel's closet. She knows she probably looks like a mess, but she's familiar enough with the neighborhood that she knows she's not going to stand out.

She finds the train stop without getting lost too many times, and buys a ticket that will take her to Hartsdale. Back to the Company, because she doesn't think she can trust Arthur and Mohinder anymore – not after watching Gabriel.

As she sits alone on the train, she presses her palms against her stomach and wishes her Daddy was still alive.


	7. Chapter 7

Elle isn't sure what she expected would happen when she got to the Company, but it wasn't exactly this. She thought she'd at least have a chance to plead her case to Angela Petrelli, or maybe she'd run into Peter or Claire, someone that knows her enough to maybe give her two minutes of their time.

She paces in front of the protective window of her cell in Level Five, peering out and trying to see if she recognizes anyone. It's been a long time since she's been here, so she's not really surprised that she doesn't. She meets the eyes of the man in the cell across from her, and he smirks at her, appraising her until he notices her protruding belly, then rolls his eyes and turns his back.

Elle isn't used to men looking away from her, and it makes her resent the baby a little bit more.

She's not sure how long she's been down there; she's counted five meals so she's guessing a day and a half, when little Claire comes to stand in front of her window.

"Elle Bishop," she says, and she sounds way too superior for someone so young.

Elle resists the urge to roll her eyes and instead comes to stand in front of the window to look at Claire. Claire with her pretty curled hair and cute little clothes just makes Elle feel more disgusting, still in the outfit she'd had on when she left Gabriel's apartment.

"Claire…" she hates asking for help. Doesn't even know how to do it right.

"How'd you get yourself caught?" Claire smirks, clearly content to see Elle behind protective glass.

"I walked in the front door, Cheerleader. Look, can you listen to me? I came because…I came because I need help."

"We've known that for a long time, Elle," Claire says drying, crossing her arms over her pink shirt.

Elle slaps her hand against the glass, pleased to see that Claire still jumps, "Pompom, I can't even spark. I'm not a damn threat to anyone. I need to talk to Angela."

Claire rolls her eyes, "Sure, right, everyone else got their powers back but you didn't. Because you're so special and different and…"

"Knocked up," Elle interrupts, "and baby doesn't like my power."

Claire's eyes widen a little, "Your baby suppresses powers?"

"Just mine, so far. I don't know…" Elle shrugs, she really doesn't know. Claire is looking contemplative, and Elle thinks just for a second she's finally made her listen, but then the cheerleader turns heel and takes off down the hallway without another word.

"Shit," Elle mutters, and drops back down to the little metal cot. She's going to be in this damn cell for way longer than she anticipated.

Claire surprises her by reappearing with Peter not an hour later, and they're staring at Elle through the glass like she's a zoo exhibit. She doesn't like it, but there's not a damn thing she can do about it.

She doesn't like feeling powerless.

"Are you having a boy?" Peter demands, and Elle raises an eyebrow and shrugs.

"You locked me in a cell in Level Five to find out what I'm having? What, are you gonna throw me a baby shower? Need to know what color streamers to get?"

Peter ignores her (he's getting good at that) and instead throws another demand at her, "Show me your power," he snaps, and he sounds so commanding that Elle opens her palm and weakly sparks before she even realizes she's doing it.

Peter looks like he knows more than he's letting on, and he murmurs something to Claire that Elle can't hear. iGo tell Angela./i

Claire takes off and Peter stares Elle down through the sheet of indestructible glass, "Not so much fun being on the other side, is it?"

"Nothing worse than what I'm used to," Elle snips, "I told you once I'd lived here for 16 years. Do you think my room was any better than this?"

"That's Sylar's baby," he says, instead of answering her question.

Elle can't figure him out. "It is."

Peter swears, and Elle finally snaps, "What? What do you know?"

Peter shakes his head, "I went to the future. I…I saw some things that I'd rather didn't happen. I'm trying to prevent them now."

Before Elle can ask another question, Peter's gone too.

Claire comes back that day, gives Elle new clothes without speaking to her, and takes off before Elle can try to crack her. Elle changes, wishing for a shower, and then sits back down on the bed, wearing the same grey sweat suit as everyone else.

How come she never seems to be able to make the right decision? She'd been happy at Pinehearst, working with Mohinder, as long as she didn't think too hard about what would happen with their creations. She'd left that for Gabriel, given him everything, and watched it blow up in her face. She'd thought for sure she could beg some help off Angela, but the second she'd entered the Company doors she'd been picked up and thrown in a damn cell.

Elle's aware that her father didn't act like other fathers. She's seen enough TV and enough of Claire and Bennet to know that daddies are supposed to love their little girls, not train them to be killers and agents by their 20th birthdays. But still, she can't help but wish that her daddy was here.

He'd be angry at her and probably lock her in a room for weeks, but he'd have fixed things. She knows he would have, trusts in him even after everything. Elle curls up on her bed and blinks back the tears, because the last thing she's going to do now is let anyone see her cry.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elle is sick of being looked at like a lab rat, so when Peter and some random doctor come in with an ultrasound machine, she tries as hard as she can to blow the damn thing up. Peter holds down her shoulders until she stops struggling, and the doctor absolutely invades her personal space, yanks up the grey sweatshirt and slides the gooey ultrasound wand over her belly.

"Seriously, what is going on?" she asks Peter, "why is everyone so interested in my baby?"

"It's a girl," the doctor murmurs to Peter and Elle bursts into tears. Fuck being strong, she's pregnant and tired and upset and now that stupid doctor just took away the one thing she really was looking forward to – her surprise.

"Where's Sylar?" Peter asks, ignoring her tears and letting up on her shoulders while the doctor pushes the machine out of the room.

Where, indeed. She knows where she left him but it's been a week now, and who knows where he is. Probably slicing people's heads open in an attempt to relive the glory days of being a crazy murderer.

Elle might be a little bit angry.

"I don't know where he is," she says instead. Not here, not helping her, she knows that much. Everything has gone to hell.

"I don't believe you."

"I don't care."

"This baby changes everything, Elle. This isn't what I saw in the future, and now I have to figure out if that's good or bad."

Elle yanks her shirt down over her stomach and sits up, glaring at Peter. "What do you mean?"

"In the future I saw…he had a son. A little boy named Noah. He was a good dad…at least from what I saw. But then something happened, and…"

Elle wipes her cheeks, "What happened?"

"Sylar blew up Costa Verde."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gabriel is pretty sure that trashing his apartment has solved nothing, but once he starts, he can't seem to stop. There's a pile of smoking books in the corner, he can make out the word "pregnancy" and "baby" on the spines between the burnt parts.

He's angry and he really doesn't know what to do. He can feel his powers bubbling under his skin, and he wants Elle home, back in their apartment.

What the hell kind of father is he going to be if this is what happens when he and Elle fight?

And where the hell would she go? He calls Mohinder, but the scientist sounds honest when he tells Gabriel that he hasn't heard from her. Elle knows how to hide when she wants to, is good at this.

He could ask his father for help…but even with their most recent interaction, and Arthur's help in giving him back his abilities, he's not sure how much he trusts him.

He knows he's no good at this normal thing when he realizes he doesn't even have any pictures of Elle, and doesn't know her well enough to know where she'd go right away. He's cleaning up the mess, picking up the pieces of the broken vase and the burnt pages of the books when it hits him like a ton of damn bricks just exactly where Elle would go.

_Fuck._


	8. Chapter 8

There is no way Gabriel can get into Primatech Research without getting busted.

It depends on who catches him if he'll be able to take them out or not. But even if he manages that, he's got no idea where Elle is inside the building, and if she's ended up working with them or if they've done something to her. If they've hurt her in any way, he's going to kill each and every one of them.

Slowly.

Of course she'd go there and not back to Pinehearst. The Company is as close as Elle can get to her father, even if he's long dead, and when Elle's scared, she becomes pretty easy to figure out. But Gabriel's also pretty sure that Angela wouldn't welcome Elle back with open arms, not after what happened the last time…

That was his fault too. His skin has been crawling since his father helped restore his powers with the agreement that Gabriel would then complete an assignment of Arthur's choice in the future. As he sat in the back of the cab that night, going home to Elle, all he could think about was the cabbie, and if the cabbie had anything he wanted. He doubted it, so he'd let the man drop him off and leave. It hadn't helped the fire in his stomach, but he was sure he could take care of it sooner or later. He can't explain why watching that spark die in Elle's palm the afternoon of their last fight had sent him back to grovel to his father for his powers, but it had. Elle's electricity would come back, and from the way their child was already controlling things from the womb, he was sure the infant was going to be a force to be reckoned with as well.

He refuses to be the weak one.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Peter thinks it's funny to bring Elle her meals now that he knows she can't zap him.

He's kind of an asshole about it, Elle thinks, and when he drops the tasteless meal in front of her, she sighs. "You know, I'm pregnant here. Cravings and all that."

What she really wants are Gabriel's waffles, but she won't admit that.

"Oh, you'll get used to it," Peter says, grabbing the handle of her cell door. "Maybe you'll even start to like it."

Elle flips the tray of food over onto the floor. Things had been different then.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Arthur is studying him like a pet project, and Gabriel drops down into a chair, staring back. This is his only chance of making this work, and he hates that he had to bring his father into this.

"You've made quite the mess, son," the older man says, sitting forward in his leather chair. "Do you have any idea what sort of child the two of you have created? What that child could mean? And you let her slip away. I would have never agreed to her leaving if I'd know what you were going to do."

Gabriel cocks a suspicious eyebrow at his father, "You…all along, you just wanted to keep her here."

"Of course. I can only imagine the power that that child will have. Keeping Elle here until she delivered was the only option. And now that she's gone from you, I can only assume she's gone right back to Primatech and Angela."

"I assume so," Gabriel agrees, watching as his father gathers a few sheets of paper.

"So then we must learn what Elle is doing," Arthur says, just before his eyes go white and the pencil in his hand starts to scatter across the paper.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elle smacks her palm against the glass of her cell when she sees Claire walk by. The girl doesn't flinch anymore, but does turn her head to look.

"What do you want, Elle?" she asks primly, "I'm busy."

"How long do you plan on keeping me here?" Elle asks. Getting the cheerleader alone is probably her best option for getting out of this mess, she just has to play her cards right.

Claire shrugs, "I have no idea. That baby seems to be the hot topic around here, though. Maybe you can make a trade." Claire's mouth curves up in a wicked smirk; she's not playing any game of Elle's – she's got her own games now.

"My daughter isn't a bargaining chip. I think we both have enough daddy issues to understand why I'm here, Claire."

Claire worries her lower lip between her teeth; Elle fights the smile that the other girl's concern brings. Maybe…

"How are we supposed to believe that you don't know where Sylar is? Last we heard, you two were shacking up, making with the crazy."

"Well, I left, didn't I?" Elle asks. "Look, pom…Claire. I just want to talk to Angela."

"Angela knows you're here. She just doesn't want to deal with you." Before Elle can argue her point any further, Claire turns and walks away, leaving Elle alone again.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gabriel is flipping through the pictures Arthur's produced, staring at them in disbelief.

_Elle in a cell in level five, clutching her stomach, her head thrown back in a scream._

_A baby, lying alone in a square hospital basinet with Peter standing nearby._

_Gabriel alone except for a baby in his arms, standing in his apartment. _

"What is this supposed to mean?" he asks angrily, throwing the papers to the desk, "Where's Elle?" he points to the last picture, "She should be with us."

Arthur seems more concerned with the picture of Peter and the newborn child. He couldn't care less about Elle's wellbeing, doesn't care if Gabriel ever sees her again.

He just wants their baby.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elle is pretty sure she has never in her life been this bored. She remembers watching Bennet bounce a ball against the wall of his cell, and she remembers thinking how silly. What a waste of time.

She'd give her left arm for a ball at this point.

She can feel the baby kicking now and she thinks about her little "What to expect when you're expecting" book. She'd felt so normal buying that, all glow-y and excited about her baby. She'd been reading it chapter by chapter, one a week, since she'd found out about the baby.

She wonders how big the baby is now, and what's growing during the 21st week. She doesn't talk to the baby even though her book told her that babies could recognize their mother's voices at 16 weeks gestation. It didn't make any sense to her, and besides, they're probably watching her on a camera anyway.

She misses Gabriel. It's kind of like her gunshot wound, missing him. It hurts all the time, but sometimes she can get involved enough in something that she forgets it hurts for a little while. She knows it was stupid of her to bolt like that, and the longer she looks back on it the more she tries to puzzle out his behavior.

If he's going to be evil, then he needs to let her know. She holds up her hand and watches for sparks. Little tiny ones light up in the curve of her palm, sparking and fizzling out almost in the same second.

Maybe neither of them have changed. They've both killed to get what they wanted, they both use their powers to manipulate people around them…and trying to make a relationship work while they were both still adjusting to just being regular was just too much of everything.

_You should stop doing this, baby_ Elle thinks, dropping her hand back to the thin mattress. She misses her electricity.

There's no clock in her room, and no window, and except for meals, Elle's lost all sense of time. She hates herself for thinking Angela Petrelli would help her – the woman who fired her would never help her – and she misses being on the other side of her damn cell.


	9. Chapter 9

Elle has yet to see hide or hair of Angela Petrelli, but she's about sick to deal of Angela's son and granddaughter.

She's given up on Claire; the girl is clearly too happy to have Elle behind glass and can't seem to be convinced to care about her soon to be cousin, who's really the cause of most of these problems.

Peter brings her meals, Claire brings her clothes, and Gabriel's bringing her nightmares every fucking night.

She wakes up drenched in sweat (maybe it's a good thing she can't spark) and screaming for her baby. In every dream, someone else is trying to take her away – but the child is always the same. A little girl with hair so blonde it's nearly white and huge brown eyes. And she only ever screams for help from Daddy.

Elle has never really known what love is supposed to feel like. She knows what it's supposed to ilook/i like; has seen movies and TV and read books. She might learn to really love Gabriel, but she realizes he might not understand love either.

She's seen Bennet die to protect Claire.

And now, lying on the hard metal cot in her own little cell in Level Five, she's pretty sure she has finally figured out what love is, and she knows that she'll do anything to keep her daughter safe.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It's been another week and Arthur has yet to make a move. He's less impulsive than his children, more calculating. It helps that he doesn't care if Elle suffers, and that he knows Angela won't do anything to jeopardize the life of the child by putting Elle into labor early.

Gabriel is climbing the walls, and he's about ready to break into Primatech himself. He's done it before; he's sure he can do it again.

So he does. It's surprisingly easy with his bag of tricks – Elle's electricity easily disarms the entire camera system and locks on doors don't slow him down any. He's suspicious when no one comes running, but Angela herself doesn't scare him, and he's too angry to be iworried/i anyway.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Angela finally makes her first appearance at the start of Elle's third week in Level five. She's got some doctor with her, and he's got a syringe, and Elle knows immediately nothing good is going to come from this little visit.

Elle stands up when Angela enters almost on impulse. It's hard to kill years of training, even after this.

"Elle."

"Angela," Elle covers her belly with her palms and glances at the doctor who came in with Angela.

No one talks to her anymore, just manhandles her like she's too stupid to understand, or like they know that she won't listen anyway. The doctor grabs at her arm, wipes a swab over the flesh of her shoulder and Elle just watches angrily. She hates that she can't do anything, but minus her electricity she's a 5 foot tall girl, and she's simply not capable of overpowering anyone.

"What are you giving me?" she asks, and she hates that her voice shakes.

"It's nothing," the doctor mumbles; he can't even be bothered to look at her.

When the doctor touches the tip of the needle to Elle's arm, she feels her electricity shoot up from her stomach and down her arms, flying out of her palms and fingers like she's bit into a live wire.

Elle feels such a sense of relief at the electricity pouring out of her skin that she isn't really cognizant of what's happening, but her cell is filling up with smoke from the singed skin of the doctor and Angela is trying to run and lock Elle's cell door to contain her again, get away from her now that blue electricity is flying out of her hands again.

Elle screams, the smoking dead body of the doctor falls to the floor, and the door to her cell flies open, knocking Angela to the ground.

Gabriel is standing outside the door, his hand raised to control the door and Elle reacts without thinking, snatches the syringe from the floor and grabs for Gabriel. There will be time for reunions later, but right now they're both single minded in their goal to iget out, and get away. Now./i

xxxxxxxxxxxx

They don't stop moving until Gabriel pulls into the lot of a tiny, run down hotel far off the freeway. He barely knows where they are, having thrown Elle into the rental car and driven like a madman all through the night until the sun started to break over the horizon.

Elle is asleep in the passenger seat, the stress of the past weeks having caught up with her, and he carries her into the dingy hotel room, pulling back the covers to tuck her in. She mewls in her sleep, reaching for him and he hears her murmur his name.

He knows it's a stupid idea for them both to sleep at once, but she looks so tiny in the hotel bed and he missed her so much…so he lets himself relax enough to pull her into his arms, and falls asleep with his nose buried in her hair.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elle wakes up first, heart pounding. It takes her a minute to realize where she is, but the minute she recognizes Gabriel's arms around her, her heart slows and she relaxes in his arms.

The light coming in from the half covered window tells her its day time, but that's all she knows. She remembers electrocuting the doctor and running with Gabriel, but the rest of the night is a blur of exhausted sleep and fear.

She lifts her hand away from the bed and Gabriel and curls her fingers, expecting to see the familiar lightning. It's disappointing when the sparks die out on her skin before they grow, and she sighs, tucking her hand back around her belly.

"You could help me out a little better," she mumbles to the baby, and Gabriel's eyes flutter open.

"Elle?" he murmurs, half asleep, and pulls her closer to him, curling his arm around her stomach. The baby kicks against his hand, and he jumps, opening his eyes.

"Good morning," Elle grins, cupping his face and leaning in for a kiss, morning breath be damned.

He kisses her back, then rubs the spot on her stomach where the baby had kicked, "I've never felt the baby…" he whispers in awe, and the baby kicks again.

"It's a girl," Elle tells him, because focusing on these things are better than thinking about what they are going to do now that they really have no one besides each other.

Gabriel can't help the huge smile, "A little girl," he says in wonder, "We're going to have a baby girl."

Elle nods, returning his smile, and then tucking her head under his chin. "I knew you'd come for me," she says.

"Just in time for you to break out yourself," he returns.

"I zapped him." Elle holds up her hand and shows him the dying sparks, "but I can't anymore."

"We'll figure it out," he tells her, because there's nothing else to say.

Elle nods, then pulls away from him, "We need to get going." It doesn't so much matter where they go, as long as it's away from Angela. "Does Arthur know what's happened?"

Gabriel shakes his head, "We're not going back," he says strongly, "Arthur…he tricked us. He wants our child."

Elle's eyes widen and she sighs angrily, "I should have known," she berates herself, angry, "I should have known that's why he let me work in the lab…why he was so nice to me. He just wanted something from me."

She turns around, facing away from Gabriel, but he can hear her sniffle and watches her hand swipe at her cheeks. Arthur's done more than play them both – he's just verified what Elle has known all her life – she'll never be good enough on her own.

When she turns back around, her eyes are dry and her mouth is set in a thin line, "They're not getting her," she says simply, "we need to go."


	10. Chapter 10

They're driving across country in what Elle is pretty sure is a stolen rental car, but she really doesn't care. They stop at WalMart and get some clothes – Elle doesn't even complain about the selection of maternity clothes. She's too tired, and it's not important anymore, anyway. Besides, anything is better than the grey sweatsuit she was wearing.

She's sick of hotel rooms and fast food, and she's sure that Gabriel is just as tired, but they've still got no plan and no way to know where a safe place is, so they just keep moving. Elle has hardly been away from the Company and Gabriel only knows New York, so the two of them travel through the states, moving west and exploring the little cities they find themselves in.

Elle is tired and uncomfortable now as she enters her 30th week of pregnancy, and Gabriel knows that they can't keep running forever. Too far to the west and they'll be too close to Los Angeles, Bennet has contacts in Texas, and the East coast is where all this went down.

They find a little hotel in South Dakota and stay longer than one night – the longest they've stayed in one place in three weeks. Both of them are aware of how easy they are to find – Angela and Arthur both have access to people with powers, and Gabriel hopes that neither of them track down Molly.

Elle sleeps all the time, whether he's driving or they're at a hotel, and when she wakes she's pale and weak. Gabriel suspects it is the combination of the pregnancy wearing on her tiny frame and the stress that he can't control.

"Elle, wake up," he touches her shoulder and Elle flies awake, startled. "I'm sorry…honey, do you want something to eat?"

Elle buries her face in her pillow, nodding and mumbling something. Gabriel sits down next to her, brushing her sweaty bangs away from her forehead, and she sighs, blinking tired eyes at him.

"I can't do this," she murmurs, "I'm so tired."

"It'll be alright," he encourages, though it's a stupid promise to make, "We just have to find someplace where we can blend in, get lost in the crowds."

"And do what?" Elle asks, "Fix watches and blow things up? Gabriel, I don't…" _don't have any job skills that don't involve my power, that don't involve my father…_The few months in Mohinder's lab mean nothing.

"I'll take care of us," he says, "I'll do whatever."

His intention was to find a pawn shop later, and sell a few shiny pieces of gold, but he doesn't want to tell Elle that. That should be relatively untraceable, and take care of them for a little while longer.

Elle nods and sighs again, looking unhappy. Her hair is limp over her face, and she's wearing too-big pajama pants and a tank top stretched across her growing stomach. Gabriel knows that for being 30 weeks pregnant, she really isn't all that big, but her size makes her belly look huge, and it's clear she's uncomfortable.

"I need to have a doctor," Elle says, stretching her palms across her tummy, "I was supposed to have a check up…but she's going to be here soon. I can't do this alone." She's scared – she's been scared for a long time. If they don't find someplace to stay, at least until the baby is born, they'll have no recourse if something goes wrong during delivery.

Gabriel leans over to kiss her softly, "I'll go look around today," he offers, "See what's in the town. Maybe w can stay here until she's born."

Elle nods, and rolls over onto her side. She's asleep again before Gabriel's even out the door.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

They end up renting the hotel room by the week, which isn't at all what Elle imagined when she pictured her future and her baby, but it's good enough. Gabriel pawns a few pieces of gold made from random things around the hotel room – the bar of soap worked out well – and tells Elle not to worry, that he had some savings.

He brings home a few books, ones that explain to Elle how birth and delivery work, and their favorite – a baby names book. They page through it a few times until Gabriel finds her name, circles it in red and leaves it open next to Elle for her to see.

Elle would like to be more active, go with him to explore the sleepy little town, but she can't seem to crack the exhaustion that covers her like a blanket whenever she tries to do anything. Gabriel does his best – takes little lists to the store to find the things Elle will need for the baby and returns with diapers and onesies, little pink blankets, bottles and formula. He buys a car seat in what might the most surreal moment of his life, and a little basinet for the baby to sleep in.

"Can we get a house?" Elle asks one night, during a commercial from the late night TV shows, "Or an apartment?"

"I want to leave when the baby is born," Gabriel argues, and Elle's too tired to fight it. She doesn't care anymore, she just wants to have her baby and find a place to live that doesn't rent by the week.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elle starts labor at the end of her 37th week of pregnancy, and somehow manages to be completely calm as she wakes Gabriel.

"I think I have to go to the hospital now," she whispers, clutching a watch, "I've been timing and they're –"

Gabriel flies out of bed and throws on clothes while Elle sits in bed and watches him with wide eyes he tears around the tiny hotel room. She bites back a smile, and waits until he's halfway to the car with the bag she packed on his shoulder.

"Do I get to come with?" she asks, and he turns with the bag still clutched in his arms.

"Oh, right, of course," he says, and drops everything in his arms onto the floor in a pile before rushing over to Elle.

Elle is amused until another contraction hits, and then it just hurts too much for it to be funny. She grabs at her belly, leaning forward and panting out breath like the book told her to.

Neither Elle nor Gabriel is terribly familiar with Dr. Lane, but she seems nice enough, and saw Elle just a few weeks prior for a checkup. She doesn't ask questions that don't pertain directly to the pregnancy, and she doesn't act suspicious when they tell her they are new in town, and Elle seemed to like her. Meeting Dr. Lane was really the sticking point to staying in South Dakota, because they didn't think they'd find someone as nice as her as easily a second time.

"Alright, Elle," A nurse comes into the hospital room where Elle is just laying down, "We're just gonna check you real quick and get a better time on how far apart your contractions are, alright? You're a little early, but I don't think you have anything to worry about..." she continues to babble calming words and she slips her hand between Elle's legs. Elle clutches at Gabriel's hand like he might leave, and he can feel the bones in his hand crunch together when she squeezes his fingers.

"We're gonna have a baby," he tells her, "nothing to be scared of, just like we saw in the books."

Elle nods, and the nurse pulls her hand away, "It looks like you're about halfway there…five centimeters. Just take some time rest and get ready, and we'll have this baby out before you know it.

Elle bites her lip as a contraction rips across her stomach, cracking the knuckles on Gabriel's right hand with her grip. She closes her eyes and reminds herself that this is going to be good for everyone…they're going to have their baby girl, and she's going to have her ability back. She hates being powerless.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The pain never gets any better, and it never lets up. Elle's hair is stuck to her forehead and her neck, sweat dripping down her brow. Gabriel smoothes back her hair, feeds her ice chips and murmurs comfortingly to her as the contractions seem to come one on top of the other.

"Okay, we're getting ready to push," the nurse says and the look in Elle's eyes makes Gabriel glad for her suppressed power.

"We?" Elle gasps out, "will you be _helping_?"

The nurse ignores her, shows Gabriel how to hold Elle's foot so that she can push.

Dr. Lane comes into the room just in time to see Elle's face go bright red with effort, her teeth clenched together.

It's pain like she has never experienced before, even when her electricity shorted out across her skin, and she takes a deep breath and pushes again, fighting it. She swears she hears her Daddy's voice – _I thought my little girl was tough_…and then the pain is gone, and she can hear a baby shrieking.

"She's here!" Dr. Lane says, clearing the baby's nose and mouth before setting the baby, umbilical cord still attached, on Elle's chest. A nurse rubs the baby's back with a white blanket, the little girl opens her eyes, and Elle falls head over heels in love with her daughter.

The nurse shows Gabriel where to cut, and his hand shakes as he cuts the cord with the scissors. The baby is laid out on Elle's chest, and she's completely oblivious to anything else in the room, the nurses moving around, Dr. Lane still between her legs and Gabriel all fade into the background.

Gabriel comes to sit next to them, gives Elle a gentle kiss on her sweaty brow and pulls the blanket down so he can see their daughter's fuzzy blonde hair. Elle shifts the baby in her arms so that they can both see her, and her little eyes flutter open, hazy and new.

_Alectra._


	11. Chapter 11

_**Six years later **_

Alectra keeps the same sleep schedule as Elle – as late as possible, every morning. Usually she crawls in with her mom the minute Gabriel wakes up, curls herself around her mother's sleeping form, and passed right back out.

Noah prefers to get up early with Gabriel and help make breakfast. He's perfecting stirring the waffle batter, and likes to do little waffle add-ins, especially chocolate chips.

"It is mommy's birthday," Gabriel tells Noah, as the four year old scrambles up onto the stool near the counter top, "we are going to make waffles for her to eat in bed."

"And for 'Lectra?"

"Yeah, and for Alectra," Gabriel agrees, helping Noah to pour the batter into the waffle maker. His son grins happily, pleased to have his daddy to himself for the morning.

The waffles are almost done when he hears Elle's giggles mixing with Alectra's full blown laugh, and he takes the breakfast up to his wife and daughter on a tray. He leans against the door, observing them before they notice he's there.

They are sitting up in bed, matching blonde hair in complete disarray. Elle's hand is lit up with blue electricity and red sparks dance across Alectra's palm until she smirks at her mother and extinguishes the lightning in Elle's hand.

"You know, when I was pregnant with you, you just took me out of commission for nearly the entire time," Elle tells her, waiting until Alectra laughs and lets up so Elle can spark again. She reaches for Alectra's hand, and the blue and red sparks mingle until they're purple, and then go out.

"Happy birthday," Gabriel says, the grin evident in his voice. Elle lights up when she sees him, accepting the tray of breakfast and her birthday kisses. "Present later, when you and Miss Alectra decide to wander downstairs."

Alectra is already halfway through her first waffle, so Elle kisses Gabriel again and settles back against her pillows to eat her own breakfast.

"Come on big guy," Gabriel says, scooping Noah into his arms and taking him back to the kitchen to finish their own waffles, "The princesses will be down shortly, after they've fixed their hair and done icky girly things."

"EW!" Noah shrieks, and races down the stairs ahead of his father. Gabriel is on the last stair when he hears Noah's excited voice. "UNCLE PETER!"

Gabriel finds Noah balanced on Peter's hip, happily babbling away until the little boy tips his head to the side and touches Peter's face, "Uncle Peter…where's your scar?"

Something's not right. "Okay, buddy, come finish these waffles," encourages Gabriel, cutting up breakfast for his son and motioning Peter into the children's playroom.

It doesn't take Gabriel long to realize where this Peter came from – nearly six years in the past – and that he wants iSylar's/i powers. He knows it's a bad idea, knows none of this is right, but Peter is so adamant that he finally gives in.

If this changes his future, everything will be gone…and if he loses his children, if he loses Elle, there will be no point to a future anyway.

Peter can't do it, can't master the ability, and Gabriel hands him his broken watch.

"I don't know a thing about watches!" Peter yells, angry at his inability to master what he knows he should be able to…what he wants to be able to.

**"** If you want to learn how to access my ability, _fix_... the watch. Listen to it. Like a symphony, every piece has its part, all coming together in perfect harmony. If you can understand the complexities of a watch, you can understand anything - everything. Cause, effect... action, reaction... how to change the future."

A sound from the kitchen startles Gabriel, and he goes back to check on his son. Noah is clutched in Knox's arms, squirming and whimpering for his father, and Daphne and Claire are there – he hasn't seen Claire in iyears/i and they want…to kill Peter?

Peter and Gabriel move in careful synchronicity, Peter to Claire and Gabriel to Knox, who pushes little Noah to the side. He listens to his father's shouts, and hides against the island in the kitchen, watching with scared eyes. The fight between Claire and Peter ends quickly – Claire is small and not terribly strong, but Knox is pulling fear from Noah, increasing his strength and Gabriel is out of practice.

"STOP HURTING MY DADDY!" Alectra's little voice startles everyone, and Knox turns to look at the little girl, still in her pink and purple nightgown, bright red balls of energy cupped in her hands, and Elle right behind her. Gabriel gets in one solid punch and Knox moves to defend himself.

Gabriel can tell he means to throw the table at him, but Knox can barely push it, and the knocked over table skids across the floor. Noah runs behind Elle, who is watching the scene carefully, her own electricity in her hands.

Gabriel glances over at his family, and Elle nods, sending Noah upstairs and letting the sparks in her hands die out.

"Alectra, I need you to keep concentrating, but you need to not look at Daddy," Elle murmurs, covering her daughter's eyes with her palm, watching Knox and Daphne.

It takes Gabriel about three seconds to flick his wrist and send Knox and Daphne flying out of the window. He doesn't want their powers, doesn't even really care anymore, but he will not have his family hurt. Knox catches his neck on broken glass and Gabriel watches the blood spatter against the white walls of his kitchen. Daphne lands in a heap outside, unconscious.

Peter looks at Claire, still crumpled on the floor, "I need to take her," he murmurs, and Gabriel nods.

"I don't want either of you back here," he says seriously. "You should know to stay in your own time…the butterfly effect is just as effective in the future, and I will not have my future jeopardized."

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Elle helps Gabriel clean up their kitchen while Alectra helps Noah make new waffles.

"We're gonna need to move again, aren't we?" she says softly, dropping the remnants of the table out of the broken window and igniting the impromptu bonfire.

"We've been here a long time," Gabriel says, "The Bennets' home has been the safest place yet. Don't worry…we're going to find a place for us."

Elle bites her lip and sighs, "But…this was home."

"We're going to find another home." Gabriel tells her, "I promise. Everything will be okay this time."

And Elle believes him, because he means it…because he promised. So it's okay to finish making waffles with Alectra and Noah, and to open the present that Noah pulls from the kitchen cabinet, and they'll worry about the rest as it happens.

Because as long as they have their family, the four of them can do anything.


End file.
